The Universe from Beginning to End

Brian Schmidt is Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the Australian National University. For his work on the accelerating universe, Brian Schmidt as leader of the High-Z SN Search team was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, jointly with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter. Schmidt has worked across many areas of Astronomy including supernovae, gamma ray Bursts, gravitational wave transients, exo-planets, and metal poor stars. Brian completed joint undergraduate degrees in astronomy and physics at the University of Arizona (1989), an astronomy master’s degree (1992) and PhD (1993) from Harvard University. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Brian Schmidt joined the staff of the Australian National University in 1995. In 2000 Schmidt was awarded the Australian Government’s inaugural Malcolm McIntosh award for achievement in the Physical Sciences, in 2006 he was jointly awarded the Shaw Prize for Astronomy, and shared the 2007 Gruber Prize for Cosmology and 2014 Breakthrough Prize in Physics with his High-Z SN Search Team colleagues. He served as the 12th Vice Chancellor and President of the Australia National University from 2016-2023. 

Professor Schmidt is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science, Royal Society of London, Foreign Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, and Foreign Member of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He serves on a number of boards and councils including Australia’s National Science and Technology Council, and Singapore’s Academic Research Council. In 2013, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. Brian also runs Maipenrai Vineyard and Winery, a 2.7 acre vineyard and small winery in the Canberra District which produces Pinot Noir.